i grew up on the west coast where there was a local macy's at the fox hills mall. i hated going to macy's. the merchandise looked cheap, the aisles were always narrow and it was beige unstylishness all around.
that was years ago and nothing much has changed. i visited my sister a year ago and we went holiday shopping at macy's in the westside pavillion: still junky, still tacky, still ugly.
and now they've destroyed marshall fields. they're taking a gorgeous flagship store with real historical weight, cute boutiques, and they're going to paint it beige and suck all the style out of it and make it a filene's basement. they're going to destroy the tiffany's window, turn the walnut room into taco bell, dump merz apothecary and throw the big state street clock into the street.
i know. no one outside of chicago really cares.
but it's typical: big corporate asshats taking something beautiful, historical, quirky and small and then turning it into something totally boring and common.
elitist? sure. it sucks to have good taste replaced with tackiness.
27 comments:
Ugh - you are so right - first they took over my Bon Marche on the west coast, and now, this (and I did not have the emotional connection to the Bon that I do to Marshall Fields) - and the real problem is that shopping in a Macys is so damn unpleasant - I will be refusing to do so - thank god Nordstroms is out here now. I must say, that it is not only the loss of MF, but the whole Blue Sun-ing of shopping that has me really depressed. Where will we find moderately priced ready to wear without looking like a clone of every other person buying moderately priced ready to wear? That is my question. Suggestions welcome.
it's clear that we will all have to learn how to sew.
i'm serious.
there's a somewhat less crafty DIY movement going on now with people in our demographic DIYing it all over the place. i'm sick of the wal-marting of my commercial experiences. (as counter-intuitive as that sounds.)
so who's with me? who's gonna teach me how to sew?? (k- you're welcome to join me.)
I do have a sewing machine and a teensy bit of experience...
it was so funny when they took over the Bon Marche, because first they said they would never change it. Then they changed it to Bon-Macy's to give the Bon some more 'cache.' then after a few months they changed it to just Macy's because they thought people would respond better to that.
It's a giant corporate ego that lives on the east coast and isn't aware that we hate it.
Cache? Oy. I was gone by the time Macy's invaded the west, but I feel the Bon was never meant to be about cache - god created Nordstroms for that purpose (at least in the Seattle department store scene) - the Bon was meant to fill that valuable 'pleasant, practical, reasonable' space - like a Target of department stores.
You're right; the Bon didn't have a ton of cashe, but it was still classier than Macy's.
I grew up in Oly, where there was no Nordstrom, so once F&N closed, the Bon was it.
To me, Macy's sounds like tacky east coast corporate ego. I been in there exactly once since the name changed, to sit in all the sofas in the furniture dept.
that's so you, jp.
well, if anyone wants to send federated an angry email (which i did the first thing this morning) then they can go here:
http://www.fds.com/contact/
hate to be a party pooper here, but what's all the fussin' over some store changing it's name?
people..it's a STORE! It's a place where you buy stuff, it isn't, say, the city of new orleans..a place with real problems and people in a world of $h1t.
I can see liking a store, but getting all mopey and indignant over a name change of a store is..um...a little off-balance, IMO.
guyreader
what if the cubs and wrigley field were bought out by American Girl Place who then announced the cubs were going to be called The American Girls and the field was going to be rebranded Girly Terrace?
is it ultimately trivial? yes. in the big scheme of things, of big problems, it would be minor.
however, in the world of baseball, half the men in this city would kill themselves.
thusly, in the world of retail (which is ultimately very superficial) this name change is the equivalent of turning the cubs into The American Girls.
p.s. thanks for stopping by guy reader.
Guy reader, I'm not getting mopey about a store chaning it's name; I'm laughing about an east-coast corporate ego that traded a decent brand name to one that we on the west-coast associated with tacky thanksgiving day parade on tv.
Hmph. I would have thought you would have got that.
JP;
oh, you WOULD, would you??
:-)
guy reader
oh how horrible how will you ever go on with your life!
actually, my life rolls on apace.
thanks for asking.
LOL...
The people have voted and they have said they do not want Marshal Fields, Bon Marche', etc.!!! They have voted by their dollars. If the Bon, or Fields, or Hechts ran their businesses correctly maybe they would not be Macy's now.
And regarding tacky...OMG...the horribly stagnant merchandise that Nordstrom carries. BORING!!! And where is that amazing service? I have been ignored on countless ventures into my local Nordies.
By the way...did we all know that Fields was owned by a British cigarette company at one time...then sold to Dayton Hudsons (Target/Mervyns)...then sold to May...who later changed to RobMay?...
...and while we're all waxing nostalgic...how many of you opened your pocket books and purchase loads of Dolce and Gabbana?...stuffy lack of vision Armani?...Prada?...now how many of you purchased it at regular price, to make it worth carrying?...
No I'm not a Macy's employee...but I am really amused at the uproar that this name change has caused. Shop the Union Square store in San Francisco. That is an amazing store with history as well. Macy's has a place in the West. It is not just an East Coast retailer! BTW...it started in Northern California officially...Marysville...
The "name change" in Chicago is WAY more than that. It is a total trashing of what was a great store with a fantastic selection and merchandising. I wasn't a HUGE anti-Macy's person until I've recently tried to shop there... twice. The shoe department SUCKS. Honestly I'm done and not going to go back. They've gotten rid of any and all decent brands - everything is so middle of the road it's a joke and any decent brands they have kept - Cole Haan, Kors, etc... they only carry the safest and most boring shoes in that line - ditto for the clothing... I gave it a chance now I'm heading to Nordstrom.
The services sucks, I try to cancel my order before I get confirmation by e- mail, and the repersentative didn't allow me. The representative said it's already ship out, but when I asked for tracking#, he can't provide the it, then he found the other excuses said that it's already packing and waiting for shipment. When I ask him when will that ship out, he answered tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The other thing is my shipping fee is not charge correctly. It's conflict because my order total is different as amount tendered. I think I should believe those people who discuss on the interent..."Never buy things from Macy's Online."
Try working for the assholes in this company. Corporate in Herald Square are even bigger jerks.
It's a revolving door in the buying office. Everyone tries to point the finger at each other.
The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!
and what amazes me is that Macy's/Federated *don't listen* to their customers. for years the same complaints have been raised all over the country, wherever a Macy's lands and despite the company's tanking numbers, they NEVER LISTEN.
it's not as if we're not telling them *exactly* what we want changed before we shop there.
hello, corporate america - you ignore your target customer at your own peril.
As far as Marshall Field's is concerned, we are talking about more than just a department store name-we are talking about an integral part of Chicago history.
Field's was one of Chicago's earliest department stores and was famous for its innovative merchandising and service. The store is housed in a building designed by Daniel Burnham, the man who made sure that the bulk of Chicago's lakefront was open to the public as parkland. Both messrs. Field and Burnham were visionaries who were way ahead of their time and left us with priceless legacies.
These people and institutions helped shape Chicago and gave the city a significant portion of its character. The obliterating of that history is part of what many people in Chicago are upset about.
It is true-Fields was not what it was years ago as far as service and merchandise. But to erase a unique piece of Chicago itself in the way Macy's did is just callous.
We are all a bit poorer as a result.
Macys is obviously not concerned about improving their business.
I stopped shopping at Macy's 10 years ago due to poor customer service. I thought maybe they'd improved and bought several gifts for Xmas 2006 so I opened a card so I could get the additional discount. I was wrong and hate them more than ever now. Macys is evil. More reasons I will no longer shop there:
I got store credit for a $15 Xmas gift. I used it towards a purchase of a few items totalling over $100. I returned one $30 item and they gave me store credit for part of the return! Ridiculous! I've never had any other store do that before.
If you also have their credit card, notice carefully when you log online to pay your bill that they charge an extra $1 each month you have a balance -- you need to manually enter the amount that you actually owe to avoid paying more than you owe. When I called to ask what the extra $1 was for, they had to transfer me since the first person didn't know. They said it was "just in case" I didn't pay my bill in full that month and that I didn't have to pay the extra $1 yet. Mind you, this is several weeks before the bill is even due. Damn straight I was not paying the extra money!
Either they didn't pony up for better IT software (because they have no money) and/or they are doing these unscrupulous practices on purpose. I think it is both and refuse to ever shop there again. The selection and quality is poor and you can find a lot of the same brands at other stores for cheaper, with better service. Customer service in retail has declined over the past 20 years in general, and Macys is no exception. It's the tradeoff you get for the Wal-martization of things -- cheaper prices always come at a cost.
Macys sucks for lots of reasons.
Their collection department in India
FACS Caller ID # FACS 727-556-7300
has been calling my spare line for months.
I have no account with Macys and the number I'm getting the calls at is a new one from a Cable Company
Great company, they buy all their crap from the third world and now hire third world folks to harass the innocent.
Lets return the favor-
Monday-Saturday 9am-9pm EST/PST and Sunday 11am-8pm EST/PST.
U.S. and Canadian customers call:
1 (866)593-2543
Naturally when you call the above number you get a machine.
Don’t just hang up, do this-
First they ask for an account number, just say “I don’t know”
It will then prompt you to enter your SS#- Type in 9 0’s
Then a prompt will tell you to say “transfer” to get to a real voice.
Explain to this person what is going on and be sure to give thee offending number.
If we all do this whenever we have a chance we might get some help.
Anonymous, I've had the same problems. Not with Macys but I got a new phone # and months later, I still get tons of calls for the last owner. They're either automated machines or rude bill collectors. I constantly still get dr.'s appt. confirmations for them as well. You'd think they'd give their dr.'s their new phone #. They apparently have some unpaid medical bills as I keep getting calls from bill collectors and lawyers. I know way more personal info about them than I care to.
My daughter wanted a backpack. We bought it at PacSun. It was on sale. We went
into Macy's and she saw the same backpack which was priced .50 higher than the
regular price at PacSun and no sale or discount was being advertised. My daughter
then saw another backpack, same brand, same style but in a different color that
she preferred. Macy's supposedly has a price match policy so I asked a clerk at
Macy's to do a price match. She said she had to get permission from the manager.
After 20 minutes or so, she came back and said the manger said they would not be
able to match the price PacSun was offering. I asked the clerk for the contact
information of the district manager and she said she would have to get that from
the manager. After waiting another 15 minutes the clerk came back and this time
the manager came with her. The manager said there was no reason to contact the
district manager, that she was there and was able to explain the store policy and
that she wanted to make sure she understood what I was asking for. I explained that
PacSun had a better price and an even lower sale price, showed the manager the
receipt from PacSun and requested a price match. The manager again said that Macy's
would not be able to match the PacSun price and explained that Macy's doesn't consider
PacSun a competitor and stated that the Macy's price match policy only applies to
large department store competitors like K-Mart and JC Penney. I bet Macy's shareholders,
if I could share this information with them, would not agree that PacSun is not a
competitor. I asked the manager for district manager's contact information and she
refused to provide that information. This is a Sunday early afternoon, two weeks
before school starts. The mall is packed with shoppers and stores like Hollister,
Areopostle, Buckle, Forever21 and PacSun are very busy. While I was waiting those
twenty minutes for the manager to come over and talk to me, I notice Macy's has exactly
four shoppers in their Junior's Department, two of which are just passing through
and never leave the main aisle. My guess is they are on their way to one of these
stores that Macy's does not recognize as a competitor. As for me, I just cut
up my Macy's card and won't be back. I still wanted to discuss this experience with
a district manager so when I arrived home I checked the Macy's website. The contact
information is vague but there is a page that allows you to submit comments and
answer a series of formatted questions with very narrow scaled answer selections. I
also noticed that the Macy's website only provides a place to recognize associates
for outstanding service. I am left to wonder why Macy's does not accept negative
comments or complaints? Is that a reflection of the same arrogance that allows them
the belief that PacSun is not worthy of being considered real competition? No telling
how many thousands of dollars Macy's spends in advertising dollars to bring customers
into their stores - ironic that it cost them less than $10.00 to drive me out the
door. I will spend about $700 on our family's back to school shopping and not one
single cent will be spent at Macy's. They shouldn't be concerned though, because none
of it is being spent at any of their competitors either. I will take my girls shopping
at those "other" stores - they are the ones that they really want to go to anyway.
I remember the good old days of Meier & Frank. Sad they were taken over by Macy's.
I also agree that Macy's on line ordering sucks. They voided my order because I didn't call the next day to very my information. I wasn't home all weekend and I got my messages on Monday which is when I called to verify. When I called the representative said all was ok. I called back to ask a question and they said my order was "voided" because I didn't call by 9:00am. YET my online bank account had shown Macy's deducted the money for this "voided" transaction. I called Macys to set this straight and was transferred 5 times because all reps said they "don't handle this problem". And because of that horrible experience I won't go to the store either - Macy's isn't worth all that.
Copy of my note to Macy's customer service:
Delivery Experience Comments:
You sold me a cabinet and a warranty that, per the salesperson, would even cover scratches or damage that we caused. Within a month of receiving our cabinet, one of the handles came out, probably because the hole holding it was drilled improperly. After explaining to your customer reps three times (over a month) that a new handle was not needed, I was told that Macy's would not fix the hole because of "the liability" (but no one would elaborate on the nature of the liability). Because the cabinet has apparently been discontinued (would have been good to know that was happening BEFORE we bought), our only option would have been to accept $150 from Macy's, which would cover repair but cost us our warranty.
Macy's is a terrible, terrible company. I made a decision before never to shop there, and I'm so sorry I reconsidered. Never again, and I'm telling everyone I've ever met.
I was at a Macy's in Utah recently and the sales clerks were rude and condescending; especially 2 idiot clerks at an Origins cosmetics counter who were too busy chit-chatting to be bothered with a customer. I was amazed too, how people selling skin-care products could have such horrible skin. It really defeated the purpose. I was too busy looking at their acne and caked on blotchy makeup to even care about the products they were trying to sell. It was kind of like the talking stain commercial.
I did not receive any bill or email from Macy's of my July 2 bill. I've been called by their rep for over a week, unbeknown to me, they never leave a voicemail. Yesterday, I finally spoke to Amanda Simpson and she told me I'm over due and I'm being charge $29 for a $110 bill. What a freaking joke Macy's is. (Mind you, I paid off $220+ bill in June. So I sure don't have a problem paying off a merely $110 bill. and come to find out they did the same thing to my cousin last year. They're scammers!)
I told her to waive it and I'll pay it off then. She said, she will waive it but in order to pay Visa on the phone, they charge $14.95! I will never ever recommend Macy's not support Macy's ever again. They are ridiculous.
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